Primary Mental Health Team Manager

Primary Mental Health Team Manager 

We are looking for a team manager to form a key part of the Solar Primary Mental Health Team (PMHT), offering the chance to manage Primary Mental Health and Counselling service. If you're looking for a new challenge in your work life and would love to have a positive impact on the mental health agenda in Solihull, whilst improving outcomes for children, young people and families then we could be looking to hire you.

We are looking for an incredibly vibrant, creative, and experienced staff member who is just as passionate about the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people as we are.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Please see all attachments within the job advert for further information about the service, the post and the person specification. Please ensure you read the ‘additional information' sheet, as this tells you more specifically about the role.

We have an exciting role providing an opportunity to develop as manager whilst contributing to the delivery of evidence-based services and the mental health agenda within Solihull.

As a team manager in the PMHT you will work as part of the Solar service, working in partnership with the local community organisations and other wellbeing services to develop a whole community approach to mental health and wellbeing, building on what is being done already. We achieve this goal through offering a range of services, including:

• Improving access to mental health support and services
• Delivering training and workshops for community groups, young people and parents
• Individual and group interventions for children and young people experiencing difficulties with managing emotions

• And more!

As a manager in this team, you will work in community and Healthcare settings, providing you with a wealth of experience and skills. Solar is a well established, nationally talked about service and we are really excited to be developing our whole community approach.

You will be at the forefront of development in the PMHT working with the other managers, ensuring that the service is responsive to local area needs and continues developing in line with transformation plans. We welcome candidates who are incredibly collaborative and have experience working in partnership with children, young people and families to shape and grow services.

Solar is a partnership project between Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) and Barnardo's. We work together to provide emotional wellbeing and mental health services for children and young people in Solihull who are aged between 0-19, based on the principle of children and young people only needing to tell their story once.  Solar utilise one clinical record and a single user led care plan, ensuring children and young people shape the service that they receive.

Rated “good” by the CQC in January 2018, the service was peer reviewed by West Midlands Quality Review Service who said they “were impressed with the level of integration across the services - the feedback from service users and their families and carers was that the pathway was seamless between the various services.”

This is an exciting opportunity to be based within a dynamic NHS service but employed and supported by a charity with a long history of working with and for children and young people (over 150 years!). Solar is a multi-disciplinary service which provides a rich learning environment for all staff. Our work is holistic, and evidence based, and we actively encourage the participation of children and young people in their assessment, care plan and treatment.

What are the essentials that we need from you?

• To have at least 4 years experience working with children and young people in a mental health setting. (E)
• At least 1 year experience of management or leadership (E)
• To have experience working with children and young people who have learning disability or neurodevelopmental conditions. (D)

• To be a fully qualified clinician e.g., Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Social Worker, LD Nurse, Mental Health Nurse, Occupational Therapist or Psychotherapist. (E)We may consider applicants who do not have a core qualification, provided they have and can evidence significant (4+ years) experience in CAMHS and can evidence experience working with children and/or young people who have a learning disability and/or neurodevelopmental conditions.

• Experience in working with families. (E)
• Experience in working in or with educational/community settings (E)
• Experience in planning and undertaking individual/group work interventions (E)
• Ability to proactively manage a busy and complex diary in a fast-paced work environment (E)
• Hold a supervision qualification (D)

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22495
• Job Title:Primary Mental Health Team Manager
• Location:Solihull
• Locality:Solihull
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:37
• Salary:44, 635.47
• Closing Date:25 February 2026